Three female directors are nominated for Emmy awards in major categories this year, of 14 nominees announced July 16.
Amy Sherman-Palladino and her snappy Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel lead the Television Academy’s nominations this year with 20 Emmy nods. Sherman-Palladino made history last year as the first woman to win Emmys for both outstanding writing and directing for a comedy series. She and husband Daniel Palladino are both nominated for directing again this year – the second consecutive year in which she is the only woman in the category.
The outstanding comedy-writing category is far more gender-balanced, with eight women nominated for their work on series like Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and PEN15 (Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Stacey Osei-Kuffour). Russian Doll writers Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler have both directed feature film comedies in recent years; Sleeping With Other People and Wine Country both received high ratings from FF2 Media critics. Headland and Poehler are nominated alongside women-in-comedy advocate Natasha Lyonne for their work on the popular Netflix series, returning for season two next year.
Killing Eve and The Handmaid’s Tale are the only drama series with women nominated for writing and directing. Director Lisa Bruhlmann and writer Emerald Fennell represent Killing Eve, while director Daina Reid and Kira Snyder are nominated for The Handmaid’s Tale. They are the only four women nominated of 17 drama writer and directors recognized by the Academy this year.
A majority of series nominated for outstanding comedy and drama pass the Bechdel-Wallace test easily, with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Russian Doll, and Killing Eve boasting predominantly female creative staffs.
The 71st Emmy Awards will air Sunday, Sept. 22 on FOX.
© Georgiana E. Presecky (7/17/2019) FF2 Media
Top Photo: Rachel Brosnahan and Marin Hinkle are both nominated for their performances in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a female-led, female-run Amazon comedy that won Outstanding Comedy Series at last year’s Emmy awards.
Middle Photo: Emmy winner Sandra Oh is nominated for Killing Eve, one of only two drama series with a nominated female writer and director.
Bottom photo: Amy Poehler, from left, Natasha Lyonne and Leslye Headland teamed up to create the Netflix series Russian Doll. (Rick Loomis / For the Los Angeles Times)
Photo Credits: Amazon, Netflix and BBC America
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